Dogs Deserve Better drove to the dogs location in AZ, and was asked to compromise on Sonny, due to an agreement between Guardians of Rescue and Markwell. A compromise was reached where he would be released to a NY trainer that is known and trusted by Dogs Deserve Better. We have yet to receive word as to when the transfer will take place.

Dogs Deserve Better did instead bring two of the Devore Shepherds back to the center, one of which is quite feral, and the other is pretty much ready for a home already. These two dogs ended up at OAS in June 2012 and spent 1.5 years living in crates, with not once glimpse of the outside, breathe of fresh air, or chance to even stretch their legs or defecate outside of a crate. Now they will receive the best of care and new, inside, homes and families. Read the blog of our trip across country with them and their arrival at the Good Newz Rehab Center in Smithfield, VA.

UPDATE: December 30, 2013.

Sonny and all the OAS Dogs are now FREE! That's right, THEY ARE FREE!!!!!

They have been turned over by Markwell to the custody of Guardians of Rescue, and are being staged at a rescue near the Nevada/Arizona border. We are told that Sonny is alive, and groups will soon be able to go out and reclaim the dogs they had released to Olympic Animal Sanctuary.

Dogs Deserve Better hopes to drive a van out within the week and help Guardians of Rescue with the tough task of caring for all these dogs for a couple of days and then bring Sonny and 1-2 others back with us to the Good Newz Rehab Center in Smithfield, Virginia.

This was a group effort, and Dogs Deserve Better is very proud of the part we played in bringing these dogs out of hell into safely and on to new and better lives.

We are incredibly grateful to all who donated to make our trip out there to fight for their freedom possible. Because of you and all those who advocated on behalf of these dogs, they are free today! Thank you.

UPDATE: December 19, 2013.

DDB founder Tamira Ci Thayne and Rescue Coordinator Robin Budin travelled to Forks, Washington as promised from December 3-15, 2013 to request Sonny back in person and see the warehouse where the dogs are kept. Tamira wrote a blog about the experience, visible here.

The situation there was dire, and we assure you it was as we'd read about and worse. Here are the highlights of the trip and our discoveries, but for more information, visit the blog.

• We were not allowed to enter or step foot on the property, and we were never allowed to see Sonny or any of the dogs with the exception of the one that was in the yard on days one and two and the four dogs who were visible in one window on December 14. What was there to hide? Groups that are not hiding something are proud of their dogs and facility and will willingly show anyone who asks to see them.

• During our entire stay, not one protestor saw one dog leave the warehouse for a walk or trip to the vet or any kind of human interaction or exercise. NOT. ONE. DOG. ALLOWED FRESH AIR or EXERCISE.

• Instead of having a conversation with us to address our concerns, OAS founder Steve Markwell filed a restraining order against both of us (Thayne and Budin) in order to keep us from protesting. This is a violation of law, and we are entitled to damages for making false claims under Washington state Anti-Slapp laws which protect free speech. Keeping us from protesting was not legal or ethical, and so DDB founder Tamira Thayne made the tough choice to violate the order and protest anyway. That video is above. She was arrested and jailed for three hours before being bailed out by Robin Budin.

• There were no employees or volunteers going in to care for the dogs. The dogs barked at all hours of the day, and yet the ONLY person seen going inside while we were there was a young male employee. He was usually seen entering for about 1-2 hours total a day.

• The young staff member told Seattle Dogspot's Robert Pregulman who was there protesting at the same time we were that there were 125 dogs inside. Markwell was seen only entering the warehouse on our last day on December 14, 2013 there for 4 minutes.

• The warehouse where the dogs are contained is not heated and is a mess on the outside, which one can only imagine reflects what is seen on the inside.

• We spoke to many, many people who all had a cousin or a brother or sister that had worked or volunteered there and all said the same things: dogs living in crates, never taken out for walks, for exercise, for bathroom breaks. The dogs above urinate in the crate and it goes down onto the dog below. Dogs fed rotten food, rarely given water, not given food daily. No vet care, the stench was heinous. Most quit after one day.

• Markwell allegedly attacked protest leader Maggie McDowell's car, breaking a light and screaming at her. Police were driving by and he was arrested and charged with malicious mischief. She received a restraining order against him. He failed to show up for our hearing to tell our side of the story, and the restraining order was dropped. Attorney Adam Karp is still pursuing the Anti-Slapp violations on our behalf.

• Markwell is being sued by a donor who gave him $50,000 for the purpose of building a facility elsewhere. The money was allegedly used but not for its intended purpose. He is also being sued by a rescue group who had a dog named Leroy there under a foster agreement, but he has refused to return the dog.

• Protests at the warehouse continue. We are encouraging EVERYONE to continue to protest until these dogs are given up to rescue groups.

• We maintain that the dogs are owned by Olympic Animal Sanctuary and NOT by Steve Markwell, who is the founder of the organization. As such, it is the board of director's DUTY to fire Steve Markwell from both the board and the executive director's position and release these dogs to rescue.

• We believe that everyone together has made inroads in this horrendous misuse of nonprofit status. We are proud to have played a part in it, but it is not yet over. While Markwell has been saying he will give up the dogs and shut down, we want to know where the remaining dogs are and why he is hiding them, as reports are currently that Forks police went in and saw 40 dogs on December 18th. He is reportedly in talks with Best Friends Animal Society and Guardians of Rescue to release the dogs. We are praying this is true, but stick with this story and these protests until it comes to fruition. As we have stated, in November 2013 he made an agreement with Forks Police to cut back to 60 dogs in order to avoid prosecution. He then ignored that agreement and still had 125 dogs while we were there.

Some places to keep up on the latest information:

Robert Pregulman of Seattle Dog Spot has been posting updates almost daily. He travelled from Seattle to Forks while we were there and became just as convinced as we were that conditions were unacceptable. He is doing an excellent job of pulling the information together. http://www.seattledogspot.com.

This was one of the photos taken outside the property on December 14, 2013. This crate was one of the crates on the 'bottom' and you can see the inch or so of hardened dog urine that accumulated on the top from the crate above. In our opinion, you need look no further for evidence of the truth than seeing this crate.

Protestors at Olympic Animal Sanctuary, December 14, 2013

Tami celebrating her freedom to return to the protest line after the bogus restraining order is dropped.

Outside the pink warehouse in Forks, Washington

If there's this much garbage outside, can you imagine what is inside the unheated building?

Tamira Thayne and Robin Budin arrive with their signs asking to see the facility and Sonny, but are met only by police reminding them not to trespass. There are no employees in sight, caring for the 125 dogs in the warehouse.

Initial Post: November 19, 2013

It's a rescue group's worst nightmare: you release a dog to another organization in good faith only to find out that the 'sanctuary' you envisioned for the dog is the opposite of what his or her life has become.

No dog deserves to live chained...but unfortunately,
Sonny's life was better on the chain than at OAS. Not acceptable!

In the summer of 2012 a Washington state representative of Dogs Deserve Better rescued a dog named Sonny from the chain. Sonny bit his foster dad soon after coming into rescue, and was subsequently transferred to the Olympic Animal Sanctuary in Forks, Washington—ostensibly to have sanctuary for life and daily training for any aggressive behaviors.

"Sanctuary" is defined as "a place of refuge; asylum."

Sanctuary implies a safe place to rest your head. Nowhere does that definition include a 24/7 caged life without so much as a daily walk, human interaction, clean food and water, and air to breathe that is free of ammonia and toxins.

We at DDB had heard rumors and seen photos that horrified us, but in September 2013 we were undone when we learned our group had been one of many who sent a dog to the Olympic Animal Sanctuary.

Our representative was mislead by false claims into sending Sonny to a situation that is WORSE THAN DEATH. We are informed that Sonny lives in a crate 24/7, never leaving this crate for walks or human or dog interaction. The smell is described by the police themselves as eye-watering, and by the founder's own admission dogs are not fed daily. What the hell is going on here?

This fraudulent misrepresentative of the sanctuary must cease and the dogs must be release to reputable rescues.

We want Sonny returned to Dogs Deserve Better, as we have already lined up alternate resources for him. We have not given up on him. We also want access to the Sanctuary and the other dogs to assess their conditions—the Olympic Animal Sanctuary is a 501c3 nonprofit organization which is morally obligated to show transparency in its operations.

This includes welcoming and allowing access to other nonprofit organizational representatives when requested.

We have written the sanctuary founder numerous times before going public without response asking for Sonny's return and to see the facility; written the mayor, the media, law enforcement. All without success.

On December 2, 2013, Dogs Deserve Better founder and CEO Tamira Thayne and rescue coordinator Robin Budin will travel to Forks, Washington in order to agitate for the release of Sonny and all the other dogs living in what we are told is hell for dogs.

We are joining those courageous dog advocates who have seen the situation first hand and have put their very lives on the line to gain freedom for the dogs of OAS.

A long line of rescue groups have tried to work with the OAS to improve conditions, and each has been turned away. Below we are told is a recent photo of Sonny in a cage at OAS. We are not sure, there is another photo of a dog in a crate too. Either of these could be Sonny.

God help us all.

Many dogs live in crates 24/7 at OAS. Those who ask to come in to visit are refused.
We want to see what current conditions are today, we want to see Sonny's living conditions
and we want him released back to Dogs Deserve Better.

We need your help to advocate for Sonny and the other dogs. Can you come to Forks, Washington anytime between December 3-14 to fight by our side? If so, e-mail Robin Budin ASAP atrepcoord@dogsdeservebetter.org.

If not, Dogs Deserve Better is in desperate need of donations to make this trip to fight for our dog and the rights of the other dogs at OAS. Unfortunately, unlike the big groups who have budgets for this kind of advocacy, Dogs Deserve Better doesn't have money set aside to fly and set up a unit elsewhere. However, we believe that in this case it's absolutely crucial, and we strongly feel that we will be provided for.

Can you help financially by donating expenses for this mission? We expect to meet with everyone we possibly can, including the mayor of Forks, law makers, law enforcement, the founder of OAS, and we will be protesting and picketing as necessary, moving to locations each day that will best meet the needs of the dogs who have no voice.

Wish us luck, send up a prayer, and offer whatever help you can for these dogs. We must all raise our voices if we expect to be heard. We thank you in advance.

We
Can Take Donations over the Phone at 757-357-9292. If you'd like to mail your support, send it to Dogs Deserve Better, 1915 Moonlight Rd., Smithfield, VA 23430

Below are suggested people to write and call:

Mayor Bryon Monohon bmon.forks@forkswashington.org

Call the Clallam County Sheriff
360-417-2262 - Bill Benedict, Sheriff--and ask if they can help!

Let's Do the Math:
How Can One Man Take Care of
what we are Told is 120 Dogs?

Short answer: he can't. No one can, not without severe detriment to him/herself AND the dogs. It would take a minimum staff of 4 people every day to even being to scratch the surface of adequate care for these dogs. That would give each person responsibility for 30 dogs. If they removed them from the crate, took them for an even BRIEF walk, cleaned the crate, put food and water in, and put them back, they might get finished with all 30 each day. And that leaves the dog spending 23.75 hours a day in a crate. Unacceptable at even these bare minimum standards? You betcha. This many dogs with ONE human? Absolutely not.

Tax papers show no paid staff. Volunteers are usually thrown out quite quickly once they start making suggestions. Who is caring for these dogs?

• Animal hoarding's distinct characteristics are defined by the following three operational features: (1) having more than the typical number of companion animals; (2) inability to provide even minimal standards of nutrition, sanitation, shelter, and veterinary care, with this neglect often resulting in starvation, illness, and death; and (3) denial of the inability to provide this minimum care and the impact of that failure on the animals, the household and human occupants of the dwelling (Patronek, 1999).

• Problems that occur: (1) numbers of animals in excess of their capacity and/or willingness to consistently provide satisfactory caregiving; (2) the numbers of animals exceed their spatial requirements and interferes with the person’s safe mobility; and/or (3) the numbers of poorly cared for animals are creating an environment that is toxic – i.e. as may be related to bacterial disease, respiratory illness, zoonotic disease, insect and vermin infestation.

• Even if these individuals were offered help to improve themselves or their surroundings, they would likely refuse or at least be highly resistant to making any changes...With deteriorating conditions compromising the health and well being of all involved, animal hoarders become entrenched in a behavior that is extremely resistant to change. Denying any actual or potential risks, they ferociously defend this turf, while being unaware or dismissive of the violations of animal protection laws and public health regulations.

Here is a handwritten complaint by one of the neighbors. It's enough to make you cry in your kibble, not only for the dogs but for her being forced into witnessing the 'mournful howling' of the dogs day in and day out.

FAQ:
Founder Claims Vendetta Against Him

We can relate to that. Our founder was falsely accused of animal cruelty where the AC seized one perfectly healthy dog—seized illegally because she was not listed on a search warrant. For that to be legal the dog would have had to be at death's door. If you visit the link you will see she was anything but, and was a healthy and beautiful pit bull. The founder had just returned from a ten day honeymoon where paid staff were in charge of the dogs all day long.

Vendattas happen.

In our case the founder IMMEDIATELY let all media into the facility to see every single dog and every single area. There was nothing to hide. She opened the doors to everyone to come see for themselves. Some did come and those who did raved about our facility. She went to court and the judge proclaimed the dog to be in perfect health from photos taken that day. We produced a mobile vet to testify that came TO OUR FACILITY frequently to care for the dogs and had seen the entire facility. She said all dogs got excellent care and vet care. They produced no vet, and we know she was taken to the vet because the vet told us. So why didn't they testify? Obviously, beause they would have said the dog was in excellent condition, and the Surry County AC didn't want that to happen. It was simple, a case of Surry County trying to smear us to get us out of the county.

Keep in mind this is the VERY SAME DA who dropped all cruelty charges against Michael Vick, yet seized one very healthy dog from the nonprofit who bought Vick's house to turn it around? Doesn't take a brain surgeon to understand we is going on there.

Our doors remain open to anyone who wants to come visit.

Back to OAS. At first we were inclined to believe the same thing in this case. But we received too many red flags.

If this were indeed the case with Steve Markwell and the OAS, all he would have to do is produce photos of the dogs and their areas. Let us all in to see them. Invite us to come. However, he has done the opposite. He has been challenged repeatedly by those posting the photos to prove they are not true by posting accurate photos. Nothing is produced. Here's a link to one eye-witness testimony who challenges Steve directly.

The donor who has been paying him monthly for Sonny's care was told she could see Sonny IN A MONTH and from the other side of the fence.

FAQ:
Why Aren't the Big Groups
Taking Action?

We wonder that too. We keep hearing over and over again that they have to be requested to help. To that we say BS. Do the dogfighters ask for your help? No. But you still investigate and bust them...so do the right thing and get involved in this case. These dogs are innocent victims and they need your help.

Dogs Deserve Better can safely be claimed to be a small-medium sized group, with only seven staff members and volunteer reps in a handful of states. We think if the big groups like HSUS, ASPCA, and Best Friends sent representatives to Forks to join us this would get sorted out much quicker. We are asking them for their help, and we ask you to join us in asking them to get involved. They have more funding and more power and that is needed in order to free these dogs from what has become an untenable situation.

Red Flags that there is BIG TROUBLE
at Olympic Animal Sanctuary

• Dogs are not seen outside the building. Most if not all 120 dogs are trapped inside all day long, every day. Neighbors and media report that you can hear the barking and smell the odor from outside, but you don't see the dogs. What kind of sanctuary doesn't allow its inhabitants fresh air?

Dogs Deserve Better has not yet seen this with our own eyes. It's documented in this news report and in eye witness testimony after the other. We will see it for ourselves on December 3, 2013.

• Founder Markwell fails to do rescue groups who sent dogs to him the basic courtesy of even responding to e-mails. Fails to send us a recent photo of the dog we are concerned and inquiring about, and fails to allow us to come see the dog. Why not? What is to hide? A big questions we all have is ARE OUR DOGS EVEN ALIVE?

We must all raise our voices if we expect to be heard. We hope you'll help fund our crusade to get Sonny out of there and help for the other dogs. We will travel there Dec. 2 and be on site Dec. 3, 2013.

Initial Blog Post about this: Was Sonny Better Off on the Chain?

"Sonny was better off on the chain" is a statement I would never want to utter in a million years. As founder and CEO of Dogs Deserve Better—working solely for chained and penned dogs—I believe there's not too much worse than spending your life at the end of a chain.

But if Sonny—a formerly-chained dog rescued by DDB reps in Washington state in June 2012—is living the way I am told he is living at the Olympic Animal Sanctuary, I would be forced to say he was better off ON THE CHAIN.

That's NOT OK with me.

I've been hearing about conditions at the Olympic Animal Sanctuary in Forks, Washington since May of this year, and at first dismissed it as many others probably did.

I am always one of the last to jump on the bandwagon against another rescue because I absolutely HATE to get involved in bashing anyone else. Hate it. As the victim of severe online defamation and outright malicious prosecution for animal cruelty by Surry County, Virginia, I know how it feels to be lied about. I know how it feels to be accused of being an animal abuser when that's the last thing you truly are. I know how it feels to go to bed at night and cry myself to sleep.

I don't wish that on anyone.

Then DDB's rescue coordinator, Robin Budin, posted the OAS-Life Inside the Sanctuary link to the Dogs Deserve Better page. This Facebook page, started by volunteers of the facility, shows what appears to be horrible photos of dogs living caged and crated and a police report stating that the smell was so bad that the officer's eyes watered. Yet authorities will not move on the facility, the mayor says there's nothing they can do, and the founder will not allow anyone in.

This is in Forks, Washington. Home of Edward, Bella, and all the other sexy Twilight people. (Don't tell me they aren't real. Of course they are!) And the mayor of what should be such a sexy town won't lift a finger to do a serious investigation into something so unsexy as possible animal abuse?

Immediately after posting the link to our Facebook page, we got a nasty e-mail from someone saying they wouldn't support us anymore and we were the last group who should be throwing stones.

I agreed with her. I told Robin that if we could not go there and see for ourselves, then we needed to step back and let those who had been there get involved. Last thing I needed or wanted was to be involved in defamation against another.

Then I got a message to my personal Facebook page from a former Washington volunteer letting me know that DDB Washington Reps had sent a dog named Sonny to the Olympic Animal Sanctuary, and asking if we could get him out.

Robin Budin e-mailed the Sanctuary repeatedly, but got no response to our request to get Sonny out and possibly another dog. I did some investigating, and it appears that Sonny went to a foster home where he bit his foster dad and broke his thumb.

That's how he ended up at OAS.

I found the girl who's been supporting him monthly at the sanctuary, and she was able to get a response from the founder whereas we were not. He told her that he was not keen on giving Sonny to Dogs Deserve Better, because he was too unpredictable and he was making progress with him. He also said that she could see him in a month FROM OUTSIDE THE FENCE.

Now I have all kind of red flags waving in my face.

I don't believe if you have 120 dogs in your care, you have time to even brush your teeth let alone make training progress with one dog. And the fact that he told his donor she could see Sonny from outside the fence—but not for a month—doesn't sit well with me.

When I was arrested for animal cruelty, four hours after returning from a seven day honeymoon trip when I WASN'T EVEN IN THE COUNTRY let alone being cruel to our dogs (I had paid caretakers whose sole responsibility was caring for our dogs), and even though I was distraught and completely confused as to what was going on, I still had enough sense to IMMEDIATELY LET ALL MEDIA IN TO SEE EVERY DOG AND EVERY SINGLE PART OF OUR FACILITY.

Because that's what you do if you are falsely accused. YOU LET EVERYONE IN.

I also posted photos of every dog at our facility and the entire facility online. I invited EVERYONE to come see for themselves, and some people took me up on that.

I was transparent.

But that's not what's going on at Olympic Animal Sanctuary. No one is being allowed in; not the media, not other rescue groups, not the BIG and BIGGER groups like HSUS, ASPCA, Best Friends, not the girl who's paying for Sonny's care each month.

Our emails and requests for information are not even being answered.

That's not ok. Our attempts at privately helping the dog we sent there are going unaddressed.

So this is now a public message from Dogs Deserve Better and me, Tamira Thayne, to Steve Markwell, the founder of Olympic Animal Sanctuary.

"I don't 100% KNOW what is true and what is untrue. I'm not here to stand in judgement of you, but in defense of those dogs, starting with Sonny, who people from my group put in your facility.

"What I know for sure is that you have not responded to our private requests to get Sonny out. You have not responded to our requests to help you by taking another dog. You have not allowed people IN to your facility and that makes me believe you are hiding something.

"I want to come in there, and I want Sonny and any other dog who is living caged 24/7 out of there. While I cannot commit to taking all these dogs, it's my understanding that others are willing to come together to take these dogs out of these cages.

"If Sonny is living caged 24/7, then he is WORSE off than he was on the chain. And that's unacceptable to me and to everyone else who cares.

"If Sonny is truly aggressive, then we will find trainers to help him, or we will do what has to be done so that no harm can come to other humans. But to leave him in a situation that is worse than a chain in the name of LIVING—but is actually a long, slow, painful death—is unacceptable and cruel.

"I won't do it.

"I'm asking you to respond to our rep Robin Budin with a time and date as to when we can come there to get Sonny (we are open to taking another dog as well.) We also want in to see your facility.

"No less is acceptable to me, as it's not acceptable to everyone who is here advocating for these dogs.

"There is no shame in asking for help. There is shame in refusing help when it's standing on your doorstep and you are turning it away. And there is shame in allowing those without a voice to suffer for that refusal."